Daring Bakers: Tuiles

    I really lost track of time this month.  I was happy to see a light, seemingly easy dessert for the January challenge, and then I just forgot all about it.  I started to notice other Daring Baker's posts popping up and I thought uh-oh!  So hopefully I'm not too late...

     This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

     I had more difficulty with this challenge than I expected, but the issues should be easily corrected the next time I make this recipe.  I spread the batter too thick and this resulted in my pretty shapes turning into indistinguishable puddles in the oven.  They were more difficult to shape immediately out of the oven too.  But a little melted chocolate hides all kinds of problems!  I topped them with fresh blueberries and melted semisweet chocolate drizzled on top.  Delicious!  Since I was short on time, I chose to make only one recipe option, the tuiles from “The Chocolate Book”, by Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.  That is the recipe I will post here.

Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)
Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch.

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Preheat oven to 350F.

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the baking sheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.

Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from baking sheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, so you might want to bake a small amount at a time.  Or you can place a baking sheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable until you can shape them.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

This is a fun, easy recipe to make (if you know what you are doing!) and I would like to try it again with some of the fun fillings I've seen other Daring Bakers use.

     

I've been tagged!

A little while back I was tagged for a meme by Claire of Cooking is Medicine.  I promise I didn't forget!  I am supposed to come up with seven random or odd things about myself.  So here is what I have.

1. My husband thinks it's gross that I put ketchup on my grits.  I never used to do that until a few years ago when I was doing Weight Watchers and needed something to flavor them besides butter or cheese.  Yummy!  I also like ketchup on french fries, hash browns and veggie burgers.
2. Speaking of veggie burgers, I was raised a vegetarian and never tasted meat until I was 19.  My mom never learned how to cook meat or fish because my grandma is vegetarian too so we never ate it.  My first taste of meat was barbecue chicken from KFC. Yuck!  I ate fish and chicken occasionally for a while but now I prefer to stick to the veggie stuff.
3. I am a Registered Nurse.  I haven't worked since I got married almost two years ago, but before that I worked as a critical care nurse for almost four years after college.  My last job was in a combined Neuro and Trauma ICU.  It was exciting, sometimes too exciting and I was pretty burned out when I left.  Eventually I'll go back to work and when I do I would like to work in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  
4. I'm not the only nurse in my family.  Besides me there are at least a dozen other RNs including my brother, both my parents and a bunch of aunts, uncles and cousins.
   
5. I consider myself to be one of the luckiest women on the planet because my husband doesn't watch sports!  And I mean never!  I don't have to care about the Super Bowl or the World Series or any other sporting event.  I will never be a football widow.  I will never have to listen to those annoying Nascar races blaring in the background.  It is so awesome!  (Obviously I'm not a sports fan either.)
6. I met my husband on the Internet, on a Christian dating website.  I realize it's not that uncommon these days, but I can't say I know any one else personally who met their spouse that way.  At the time we met, we lived 550 miles apart.
7. Bright light, particularly sunlight, makes me sneeze.  Some people may think I am crazy, but I looked it up and it has an official name - Photic Sneeze Reflex.  It occurs in 17-25% of humans, is more common among Caucasians and is an autosomal dominant trait.  I inherited it from my Dad.  Apparently it can prevent you from becoming a fighter pilot.  Bummer.

I'm supposed to tag seven more people, but I'm terrible at figuring out who to tag, so I will add them as I figure it out!  If anyone has already done this recently, don't feel bad about not doing it again.

Here are the rules:
1. Link the person that tagged you and post the rules.
2. Share 7 random or weird facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 people at the end and link to their sites.
4. Let each person know about the tag in the comment section of their site.

1. Jess from Chubb

2. Renee from Cafe Nay Nay

3.  Ashley from Introducing Ashley

4. Cristine from Cooking with Cristine

5. RightKlik

6. ?

7. ?

Daring Bakers: A French Yule Log

     When I first looked at this Daring Bakers Challenge, I admit I was a little intimidated.  I gathered my courage and sifted through the many recipes/variations for the different elements, and it wasn't as difficult as I first thought.  This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.  They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand.  I wish I could have made this at a time when I wasn't doing anything else so I could have given it more attention.  I did learn a lot about how to go about this from reading other Daring Bakers' comments in the forum (thanks everyone!).  Most of the elements went very well for me, but I had a few issues with the Praline Feuillete (Crisp) Insert and the Icing for the finish.  Here are the six elements I chose to make:

Element #1: Dacquoise Biscuit (Almond Cake)

Element #2: Dark Chocolate Mousse

Element #3: Dark Chocolate Ganache Insert

Element #4: Coconut Crisp Insert (instead of the Praline Feuillete version)

Element #5: Vanilla Creme Brulee Insert

Element #6: White/Milk Chocolate Icing

     I didn't have any trouble with the Dacquoise Biscuit or the Dark Chocolate Mousse (my favorite part of the whole thing!).  The Dark Chocolate Ganache was also good, as was the Creme Brulee.  I made the Coconut Crisp Insert much too thick, which made slicing the final product difficult.  I also did not really appreciate the taste of it and I think that had something to do with the white chocolate I used and the Special K.  If I did it again, I would probably made my own praline (do the chocolate version) and use Rice Krispies instead.  I intended to make the icing with white chocolate also, but I didn't have enough so I mixed some dark chocolate with it and ended up with something like milk chocolate, but again the taste was a little off in my opinion.  However, the combination of the all the elements was good, and everyone seemed to like it.  I am posting the recipes for the elements I chose, except for the Praline Feuillete (Crisp) Insert where I have included the Coconut Crisp (with white chocolate) version I used and the other option using praline and milk chocolate.  Don't forget to look around and see what other Daring Bakers have done.  They are awesome!

Element #1 Dacquoise Biscuit (Almond Cake)
Preparation time:  10 mn + 15 mn for baking
Equipment:  2 mixing bowls, hand or stand mixer with whisk attachment, spatula, baking pan such as a 10x15  jelly-roll pan, parchment paper
Note:  You can use the Dacquoise for the bottom of your Yule Log only, or as bottom and top layers, or if using a Yule log mold (half-pipe) to line your entire mold with the biscuit. Take care to spread the Dacquoise accordingly. Try to bake the Dacquoise the same day you assemble the log to keep it as moist as possible.

Ingredients:
2.8 oz (3/4cup + 1Tbsp / 80g) almond meal 
1.75 oz (1/2 cup / 50g) confectioner’s sugar 
2Tbsp (15g) all-purpose flour
3.5oz (100g / ~100ml) about 3 medium egg whites    
1.75 oz (4 Tbsp / 50g) granulated sugar
    
1.  Finely mix the almond meal and the confectioner's sugar. (If you have a mixer, you can use it by pulsing the ingredients together for no longer than 30 seconds).
2.  Sift the flour into the mix.
3.  Beat the eggs whites, gradually adding the granulated sugar until stiff. 
4.  Pour the almond meal mixture into the egg whites and blend delicately with a spatula.
5.  Grease a piece of parchment paper and line your baking pan with it.
6.  Spread the batter on a piece of parchment paper to an area slightly larger than your desired shape (circle, long strip etc...) and to a height of 1/3 inches (8mm). 
7.  Bake at 350°F (180°C) for approximately 15 minutes (depends on your oven), until golden. 
8.  Let cool and cut to the desired shape. 

Element #2 Dark Chocolate Mousse
Preparation time:  20mn
Equipment: stand or hand mixer with whisk attachment, thermometer, double boiler or equivalent, spatula 
Note:  You will see that a Pate a Bombe is mentioned in this recipe. A Pate a Bombe is a term used for egg yolks beaten with a sugar syrup, then aerated. It is the base used for many mousse and buttercream recipes. It makes mousses and buttercreams more stable, particularly if they are to be frozen, so that they do not melt as quickly or collapse under the weight of heavier items such as the crème brulee insert.  Gelatin is the gelifying agent in all of the following recipes, but if you would like to use agar-agar, here are the equivalencies: 8g powdered gelatin = 1 (0.25 oz) envelope powdered gelatin = 1 Tbsp powdered gelatin = 1 Tbsp Agar-Agar. 1 Tbsp. of agar-agar flakes is equal to 1 tsp. of agar-agar powder.

Ingredients:

2.5 sheets gelatin or 5g / 1 + 1/4 tsp powdered gelatin                     
1.5 oz (3 Tbsp / 40g) granulated sugar        
1 ½ tsp (10g) glucose or thick corn syrup        
0.5 oz (15g) water    
50g egg yolks (about 3 medium)
6.2 oz (175g) dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1.5 cups (350g) heavy cream (35% fat content)
                
1. Soften the gelatin in cold water. (If using powdered gelatin, follow the directions on the package.)
2. Make a Pate a Bombe: Beat the egg yolks until very light in colour (approximately 5 minutes until almost white).  
2a. Cook the sugar, glucose syrup and water on medium heat for approximately 3 minutes (if you have a candy thermometer, the mixture should reach 244°F (118°C). If you do not have a candy thermometer, test the sugar temperature by dipping the tip of a knife into the syrup then into a bowl of ice water, if it forms a soft ball in the water then you have reached the correct temperature.
2b. Add the sugar syrup to the beaten yolks carefully by pouring it into the mixture in a thin stream while continuing to beat the yolks. You can do this by hand but it’s easier to do this with an electric mixer. 
2c. Continue beating until cool (approximately 5 minutes). The batter should become thick and foamy.
3. In a double boiler or equivalent, heat 2 tablespoons (30g) of cream to boiling. Add the chopped chocolate and stir until melted and smooth.
4. Whip the remainder of the cream until stiff.
5.  Pour the melted chocolate over the softened gelatin, mixing well. Let the gelatin and chocolate cool slightly and then stir in ½ cup (100g) of WHIPPED cream to temper. Add the Pate a Bombe.
6.  Add in the rest of the WHIPPED cream (220g) mixing gently with a spatula.

Element #3 Dark Chocolate Ganache Insert
Preparation time: 10mn
Equipment: pan, whisk. If you have plunging mixer (a vertical hand mixer used to make soups and other liquids), it comes in handy.
Note:  Because the ganache hardens as it cools, you should make it right before you intend to use it to facilitate piping it onto the log during assembly. Please be careful when caramelizing the sugar and then adding the cream. It may splatter and boil.

Ingredients:
1.75 oz (4 Tbsp / 50g) granulated sugar            
4.5oz (2/3 cup – 1 Tbsp/ 135g) heavy cream    (35% fat content)    
5 oz (135g) dark chocolate, finely chopped
3Tbsp + 1/2tsp (45g) unsalted butter softened

1. Make a caramel: Using the dry method, melt the sugar by spreading it in an even layer in a small saucepan with high sides. Heat over medium-high heat, watching it carefully as the sugar begins to melt. Never stir the mixture. As the sugar starts to melt, swirl the pan occasionally to allow the sugar to melt evenly. Cook to dark amber color (for most of you that means darker than last month’s challenge).
2. While the sugar is melting, heat the cream until boiling.  Pour cream into the caramel and stir thoroughly. Be very careful as it may splatter and boil.
3. Pour the hot caramel-milk mixture over the dark chocolate. Wait 30 seconds and stir until smooth. 
4. Add the softened butter and whip hard and fast (if you have a plunging mixer use it). The chocolate should be smooth and shiny. 

Element #4 Praline Feuillete (Crisp) Insert
Preparation time: 10 mn (+ optional 15mn if you make lace crepes)
Equipment: Small saucepan, baking sheet (if you make lace crepes).
Double boiler (or one small saucepan in another), wax paper, rolling pin. 
Note:  Feuillete means layered (as in with leaves) so a Praline Feuillete is a Praline version of a delicate crisp. There are non-praline variations below. The crunch in this crisp comes from an ingredient which is called gavottes in French. Gavottes are lace-thin crepes. They are not available outside of France, so you have the option of making your own using the recipe below or you can simply substitute rice krispies or corn flakes or Special K for them. Special note: If you use one of the substitutes for the gavottes, you should halve the quantity stated, as in use 1oz of any of these cereals instead of 2.1oz.
If you want to make your own praline, please refer back to the Daring Baker Challenge Recipe from July 2008.

To make 2.1oz / 60g of gavottes (lace crepes - recipe by Ferich Mounia):
1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk             
2/3 Tbsp (8g) unsalted butter                
1/3 cup – 2tsp (35g) all-purpose flour        
1 Tbsp / 0.5 oz (15g) beaten egg
1 tsp (3.5g) granulated sugar
½ tsp vegetable oil
1. Heat the milk and butter together until butter is completely melted. Remove from the heat.
2. Sift flour into milk-butter mixture while beating, add egg and granulated sugar. Make sure there are no lumps. 
3. Grease a baking sheet and spread batter thinly over it. 
4. Bake at 430°F (220°C) for a few minutes until the crepe is golden and crispy. Let cool.

Ingredients for the Praline Feuillete (chocolate version):
3.5 oz (100g) milk chocolate        
1 2/3 Tbsp (25g) butter        
2 Tbsp (1 oz / 30g) praline
2.1 oz (60g) lace crepes(gavottes) or 1 oz rice krispies or corn flakes or Special K  

1. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler. 
2. Add the praline and the coarsely crushed lace crepes. Mix quickly to thoroughly coat with the chocolate.
3. Spread between two sheets of wax paper to a size slightly larger than your desired shape. Refrigerate until hard. 

Coconut Crisp Insert (white chocolate version)
3.5 oz (100g) white chocolate                
1 oz (1/3 cup/25g) shredded coconut
1 2/3 Tbsp (25g) unsalted butter        
2.1 oz (60g) lace crepes or 1 oz rice krispies or corn flakes or Special K

1. Spread the coconut on a baking tray and bake for 5-10 minutes at 375°F (190°C) to toast (a different temperature might work better for you with your own oven).  
2. Melt the white chocolate and butter in a double boiler. Stir until smooth and add the toasted coconut. 
3. Add the coarsely crushed lace crepes. Mix quickly to thoroughly coat with the chocolate. Spread between two sheets of wax paper to a size slightly larger than your desired shape. Refrigerate until hard. 

Element #5 Vanilla Crème Brulée Insert
Preparation time: 15mn + 1h infusing + 1h baking
Equipment: Small saucepan, mixing bowl, baking mold, wax paper
Note: The vanilla crème brulée can be flavored differently by simply replacing the vanilla with something else e.g. cardamom, lavender, etc...

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (115g) heavy cream (35% fat content)        
½ cup (115g) whole milk            
4 medium-sized (72g) egg yolks
0.75 oz (2 Tbsp / 25g) granulated sugar 
1 vanilla bean

1. Heat the milk, cream, and scraped vanilla bean to just boiling. Remove from the stove and let the vanilla infuse for about 1 hour. 
2. Whisk together the sugar and egg yolks (but do not beat until white).
3. Pour the vanilla-infused milk over the sugar/yolk mixture. Mix well. 
4. Wipe with a very wet cloth and then cover your baking mold (whatever shape is going to fit on the inside of your Yule log/cake) with parchment paper. Pour the cream into the mold and bake at 210°F (100°C) for about 1 hour or until firm on the edges and slightly wobbly in the center.
Tartelette says: You can bake it without a water bath since it is going to go inside the log (the aesthetics of it won't matter as much since it will be covered with other things)....BUT I would recommend a water bath for the following reasons:
- you will get a much nicer mouth feel when it is done
- you will be able to control its baking point and desired consistency much better
- it bakes for such a long time that I fear it will get overdone without a water bath
Now...since it is baked in a pan and it is sometimes difficult to find another large pan to set it in for a water bath, even a small amount of water in your water bath will help the heat be distributed evenly in the baking process. Even as little as 1 inch will help.
5. Let cool and put in the freezer for at least 1 hour to firm up and facilitate the final assembly.

Element #6 White Chocolate Icing
Preparation time: 25 minutes (10mn if you don’t count softening the gelatin)
Equipment:  Small bowl, small saucepan
Note: Because the icing gelifies quickly, you should make it at the last minute.
For other gelatin equivalencies or gelatin to agar-agar equivalencies, look at the notes for the mousse component.

1.5 gelatin sheets or 3g / 1/2Tbsp powdered gelatin                
3.5 oz (100g) white chocolate            
2 Tbsp (30g) unsalted butter                
1/3 cup (90 g) whole milk
1 2/3 Tbsp (30g) glucose or thick corn syrup

1. Soften the gelatin in cold water for 15 minutes.
2. Coarsely chop the chocolate and butter together.
3. Bring the milk and glucose syrup to a boil.
4. Add the gelatin.
5. Pour the mixture over the chocolate and butter. Whisk until smooth.
6. Let cool while checking the texture regularly. As soon as the mixture is smooth and coats a spoon well (it is starting to gelify), use immediately.

Assembling Your Yule Log

I chose the following method for assembling my log, using a 9x5 inch loaf pan.  You can put the Dacquoise biscuit on the top and bottom, but I chose to do just one, on the bottom.  If you are doing the assembly UPSIDE DOWN (such as in a loaf pan) with ONE piece of Dacquoise on the BOTTOM ONLY the order is:

1. Mousse (1/3 of prepared amount)
   
2. Creme Brulee Insert 
   
3. Mousse (another 1/3)
   
4. Praline/Crisp Insert
   
5. Mousse (final 1/3)
   
6. Ganache Insert
   
7. Dacquoise

     I would recommend making the elements in the following order to help you have everything ready to assemble at the right time:

1. Creme Brulee (freeze then cut)
2. Mouse (refrigerate at least 1 hour)
3. Praline insert (freeze then cut)

Then assemble these 3 items (see above for order of assembly) and freeze for 2-3 hours until set.

Now make these:
4. Dacquoise Biscuit (allow to cool and cut)
5. Ganace Insert (pipe on previous frozen Yule log)
Finish assembly and FREEZE UNTIL NEXT DAY.
6. Make icing, remove log from mold and coat.

This was a fun challenge and I definitely got to make a bunch of things I've never made before and I learned a lot.  So be daring!  You can make anything you want if you put your mind to it.

Gingerbread House

Update 12-20-08:  You must check out the Grove Park Inn National Gingerbread House Competition!  My house looks like it belongs in the Child (8 and under) category compared to most of these spectacular creations.  I grew up in the Asheville, NC area and had the privilege of going to the Grove Park Inn to see the competition about ten years ago.  They are even more amazing in person.  Some of the best entries will be taken to New York the week of December 22 and will be on Good Morning America.  Also, if you are visiting the Asheville area, don't miss the Biltmore Estate.  They have beautiful Christmas decorations and a gingerbread replica of the Biltmore house is displayed in the kitchen every year.

Last year I started a new tradition for myself - making a gingerbread house from scratch.  No kit for me!  I had made one when I was in high school, but someone else baked the gingerbread for me and I just put it together.  I found a great book with a recipe and complete instructions for the project, Nick Malgieri's Cookies Unlimited.  This is a great book for a variety of cookie recipes and I highly recommend it.  I forgot to take photos during the process of baking and cutting out the pieces for the house so you may have a hard time figuring out how to lay them out, but I have tried to explain it the best I can.  I hope you'll just have fun with it!  Mine looks completely different this year from last year's house because I tried to find different candies and ways to use them.  The roof is lined with red licorice, gummy bears, and reindeer corn.  If you can find Necco wafers they make great roof tiles also.  The Royal Icing is a wonderful thick "glue" you can stick it all together with.  Use sheet gelatin or cellophane for the window "glass".  I also used an ice cream cone and some green royal icing to make a Christmas tree.  A sandwich sized Ziploc bagwith the corner snipped off is all you need to pipe the icing wherever you want to use it.  The house is perfectly edible if you have a few kids wanting to take a bite out of it!  We got a cute picture of our niece last year (she was 2) trying to bite a gum drop off the roof when she thought nobody was looking...lol.

Gingerbread Dough for Gingerbread Houses

 5 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons ground ginger

1 tablespoon ground cloves

1 tablespoon freshly grated nutmeg (I used regular ground nutmeg)

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, slightly softened

¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

¾ cup granulated sugar

½ cup water

• Combine the first 7 ingredients (through salt) in a bowl and whisk to mix well.  Beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until soft and light, about 3 or 4 minutes.  Scrape the bowl and add a third of the dry ingredients.  Beat in half the water, then another third of the dry ingredients.  Finally, beat in the remaining water and the remaining dry ingredients. Note: If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can stir in the flour and water after beating the eggs and sugar with a hand mixer.  It is harder to stir all that dough by hand, but it comes out just as well in the end. 
•  The dough will be somewhat dry and crumbly.  Scrape it onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it smooth, but don’t overwork it to the point that the butter melts.  I actually had to add a tiny bit of water at this point to get my dough to hold together, but use your judgement. 
• Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for a few minutes at room temperature.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Divide the dough into 2 pieces and roll each piece to the size of a 10x15-inch jelly roll pan or cookie sheet.  A rolling pin worked best for me to roll out the dough, but you can also use the back of a spoon to help smooth it out.  I used a knife to cut the edges straight and then added the cut pieces back and rolled them in until each piece of dough was square and of even thickness.  I recommend lining your pans with parchment paper.
• Bake the dough for 15 minutes, until it is firm, but not completely baked through.  Remove the pans of dough from the oven and place them on racks.  Use a sharp knife to cut out your pattern for the pieces of the house.  After cutting out the pattern, return the dough to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes, or until firm and baked through.  Repeat the cutting around the patterns with a small sharp knife, then allow the gingerbread to cool completely in the pans on racks. See below for pattern instructions.

House Pattern

I really recommend getting the book to help you with this part – it contains the pattern and how to lay it out on the dough.  I totally forgot to take pictures of this part of the process, so I apologize if it isn’t very clear.  Those of you who are very creative can probably figure this out on your own, and I will give the measurements of the pieces here to help you out.  I measured and traced them onto cardboard when I made the house last year and saved my templates (a large cereal box works well for this).

Side walls (cut 2)- 5.5 x 3.5 inches (windows are 1.25 x 1.5 inches and begin 1.25 inches from the bottom of the wall)

Front and Back Walls (cut 2)- 5.5 inches at the bottom, measure 6 inches from bottom to top of point and the slope up to the point is 3.75 inches.  For the front wall, the door should be 2.5 inches tall and 1.25 inches wide, windows are .75 inches wide and the same distance from the door.  You can pretty much eyeball this and do whatever looks right, although I recommend drawing it out first to check it and then using the template when you actually cut the dough.

Roof (cut 2)- 6.5 x 4 inches.

Shutters(cut 12)- 10 mm x 1.5 inches.  The easiest way to do this is cut a rectangle that is 3.25 inches by 1.5 inches and then after you cut that into the gingerbread, divide the rectangle into 8 equal pieces.  Cut another rectangle that is half that and divide it into four equal pieces to get your last four shutters.  I know it sounds complicated, but it’s really not.  Just use my finished picture as a general guide or go get the book (you might even be able to check it out from the library).

You should be able to get all of the pieces except for one roof piece from half the dough (one 10x15 inch sheet).  Cut one roof piece from the other pan of dough and you should have a 10x11 inch sheet of gingerbread left to use as your base.  There will be a few smaller pieces of extra dough scattered in between some of your cut pieces.

Royal Icing

3 large egg whites or 6 tablespoons pasteurized egg white or use powdered egg whites to make 3 egg whites according to package directions

1 pound (about 4 cups) confectioners sugar

½ teaspoon lemon juice or distilled white vinegar

• Combine the sugar and egg whites in a bowl, and with an electric stand mixer or hand mixer, mix on the lowest speed until the sugar is evenly moistened.  Add the lemon juice, increase the speed to medium, and beat until the icing is light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.  This is best used the same day it is made.  If you don't use the icing immediately, press plastic wrap against the surface and cover the plastic wrap with wet paper towels to keep it from drying out.
• If you are tinting the icing, use paste colors instead of liquid because the liquid colors will alter the consistency.  Wilton icing colors have worked well for me.

Happy House Making! 

 

Orange Cardamom Cake

I have a couple recipe notebooks mostly made up of recipes cut from magazines or printed off the Internet.  This year I decided not to renew my magazine subscriptions to Cooking Light and Vegetarian Times and actually start making some of those recipes.  They are both great magazines, but they were just piling up.  I went through those stacks and cut out every recipe I was interested in or possibly thought I would make.  I divided them into two different notebooks, one for breads, desserts, and other baked goods, and the other for everything else.  And I'm actually making some headway with them!  I counted today and I've made 10 recipes from the baking/dessert group and about 7 0r 8 from the everything group (this tally is just from the magazines, it doesn't include all the new recipes I've tried from food blogs!).    I have a lot more to go, but I have a goal of trying one or two new recipes a week until I get them all made.  I've added many new recipes from food blogs and other sources and I intend to weed out any I don't like as I go, although so far, every new thing I've tried has been a keeper.  Today's recipe is one of the ones I got from Cooking Light, and it comes from the December 2007 issue.  I finally got a nice Bundt pan the other day, and this is the recipe I decided on to try it out.

Orange Cardamom Cake

Makes 16 servings

3 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 3/4 teaspoons ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup fresh orange juice

2/3 cup canola oil

1 tablespoon grated orange rind

2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

4 1/2 teaspoons fresh orange juice

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Coat a 10-inch tube pan or Bundt pan with cooking spray; dust with 1 tablespoon flour.
• Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, leveling with a knife.  Combine 3 cups flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center of the mixture and add orange juice, canola oil, orange rind, lemon rind, vanilla, and eggs to the flour mixture.  Beat with a mixer on low speed until well combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.
• Spoon batter into prepared cake pan, spreading evenly.  Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 5 minutes on a wire rack, then remove cake from pan.
• To prepare glaze, combine 1 cup powdered sugar, 4 1/2 teaspoons orange juice, and lemon juice in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk.  Drizzle glaze over warm cake; cool cake completely on wire rack.  Calories 294, Fat 10.4g,Protein 3.8g, Carb 46.6g, Fiber 0.8g

This cake turned out well and it was delicious.  It is lightly spiced with a nice orange flavor.  I thought the spices and the orange flavor were more prominent a day after I made it, so this may be one of those things that is a little better left over.  This would be a great cake for a holiday party or family get together.

Thanksgiving Recap and My Christmas Tree

So, after taking a break from blogging for a little while, I wanted to show everyone how my Thanksgiving Dinner turned out.  I was happy with everything overall, but of course there are always a few things I'd do to fine tune some of the recipes for next time.  I couldn't find any brussel sprouts, so I made acorn squash with a recipe inspired by Sweets by Sarah.  I left out the butter, sprayed them with olive oil, used only one or two tsp of sugar with the nuts and sprinkled a little coriander and allspice over the top of it all.  They were really good, and probably my favorite thing from the whole meal.  The Impossible Pumpkin Pie from FatFree Vegan Kitchen was also wonderful and I will definitely make it again.  The Buttermilk Cluster Rolls took a little more work than I anticipated, but they turned out good.  I would advise anyone making the recipe to start out with only 5 or 5 1/2 cups of flour and work your way up.   Mine was too dry and I ended up kneading buttermilk into it for a long time before it was right!  I would also bake it for a little less time or maybe at a lower temperature, since I don't like my rolls quite as crusty on the outside as these were.  The mashed potatoes were also delicious, I love rosemary with potatoes.  The Roasted Root Vegetables with Maple Glaze were yummy too and I think I like them even more with the carrot/parsnip/turnip combo than the way I first made them.  Rounding out the meal was Cranberry-Ginger Relish and Cranberry Spice Pinwheel Cookies.  I'm sure some of you are saying "Where's the turkey or turkey-like thing?"  It's a cop out I know, but I used a canned vegetarian meat substitute called FriChik.  It's really very good.  A few days ago we got our Christmas tree up and it smells wonderful.  There's really nothing like the real thing!  Don't forget to check out my Christmas music playlist on the sidebar - click on the songs and you can play them full length right off my blog :)

Clockwise from top left:  Acorn squash, skillet cornbread dressing, more acorn squash, and roasted root vegetables with maple glaze.

Buttermilk Rolls

Daring Bakers: Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting

This is my first Daring Baker's Challenge and I am very excited!  The recipe for this months challenge is Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon, as published on Bay Area Bites.  Our wonderful hosts this month are: Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity, Alex (Brownie of the Blondie and Brownie duo), and Jenny of Foray into Food.  For alternative bakers, we’ve once again turned to Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go to assist us.  I did not have time to make the optional caramels, but I am hoping to make them sometime in the next couple weeks.  I was a little intimidated by this cake after learning about all the trouble other Daring Bakers were having with the caramel syrup, but mine turned out perfectly the first time!  I did make only a half batch of the caramel syrup and that was just the right amount to do the cake and the frosting.  

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING
10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

• Preheat oven to 350F
• Butter and flour one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.
• Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.
• Sift flour and baking powder.
• Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. (This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.)
• Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.
• Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it. 
• Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)

• In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.
• When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.
• Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. (Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.)

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING
12 tablespoons unsalted butter 
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste

• Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.
• Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.
• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.  To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light.

     I really enjoyed baking this cake.  I have had very little experience with baking cakes from scratch, so I'm thrilled it turned out so well.  I highly recommend following the recipe exactly, as it makes all the difference.  When you are ready to make the caramel syrup, set up everything you need right there, and watch closely so that when the sugar mixture starts to caramelize, you are ready to pour in the water.  If you don't have everything ready at that moment, it will probably burn before you have the chance to pour in the water!  My cake got rave reviews at Thanksgiving dinner, everyone particularly liked the frosting and said they had never had anything quite like it.  I thought it was delicious.  I added a good amount of salt to the frosting, I'm not sure how much, but it really helped balance the sweetness.  The cake itself is a little more dense than other cakes I've tried, but very moist and perfect with the frosting.  I wish I had taken the time to get better pictures, but there were some hungry people milling about the kitchen, so I had to settle for some quick snapshots.